This course provides an introduction to the economic, social, and political dimensions of education and to the policies and practices of education in developing countries. Students become familiar with a wide range of issues and skills necessary to participate in the debates around the state of education in varied countries and regions of theworld: Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and NorthAfrica, and Asia. We consider the current level of educational achievement across the globe, the prevailing diagnoses of the most important problems, the most prominent goals for improvement (e.g., the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education), the politics of educational reform, and the most promising strategies for improving educational achievement and social and human development outcomes. (Typically offered Spring Term.)